The Internicola Law Firm, PC is a specialized business and franchise law firm dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship and assisting entrepreneurs and business owners in building great businesses. This newsletter is all about entrepreneurship and sharing with our clients, colleagues and friends a mindset of success, best practices for business expansion and protection and learning from one another. This newsletter means a lot to us, we hope you enjoy it and we are always glad to hear from you with any comments or suggestions that you may have.
The Business and Franchise Law Report is a publication of the Charles N. Internicola Law Firm, P.C., and is intended to educate the general public about business law issues. It is not intended to be legal advice. The information in this newsletter may be freely copied and distributed as long as the newsletter is copied in its entirety.
ABOUT THE INTERNICOLA LAW FIRM, P.C.
email [email protected] | web www.BusinessandFranchiseLaw.com | tel 800.976.4904
BUSINESS BUILDING
volume 4 | issue 1
BUSINESS SUCCESS: IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE SMALL STUFF
—continued on page 2
Charles N. InternicolaBrian A. Lincer
Some of the best business advice that I received came from
my friend, colleague and mentor Ben Glass, Esq. During a
business development meeting, I had a conversation with Ben
Glass that went something like this:
ME: If you had to reflect on your business and the success
that you have seen in other entrepreneurs, what would you say
was the one thing that successful entrepreneurs implement
that lead to success?
BEN: What I would say and what someone like Dan Kennedy
would say is that its never about one thing. Success does
not come from one big thing but, rather, from many small
things - the many steps and business development actions
that successful entrepreneurs consistently implement daily,
weekly, monthly and annually.
Ben and I probably had this brief, less than two minute
conversation about 2 or 3 years ago, but the point really
stuck with me. The fact is that there is never one magical
step or action that will propel or turn a business around and
that business success requires hard work comprised of the
many small steps and actions that need to be consistently
implemented. Unless you are a criminal or a politician, success
takes time and requires consistent action.
So...where does this lead me?
Well, first off as we approached the end of 2015 and the start of
2016 (by the way, I hope you have had a very Happy Hanukkah,
Merry Christmas and time well spent with family and friends)
many of us reflect on our businesses, our successes and set
backs during the past year and how to improve our businesses
in 2016. For true entrepreneurs, success is much more than
financial goals but also the lives we improve and the value that
we create for our clients, customers, our families and our team
members. So, as we embark on 2016, I would like to share with
2 The Business and Franchise Law Report | Volume 4 Issue 1
you just 3 of the many small steps that our team has been
working on to improve our business and the value that we
deliver to our clients - I totally understand and can share that
this is always a work in progress:
(i) Strategic Team Meeting
This past year, we scheduled an off-site two day meeting
where our entire team met to discuss our firm goals, what
our firm stands for and the core principals that will guide our
actions. We relied much on the principals played out in the
book Scaling Up (something we have recommended) and
the Strategic Planning Guide offered by Infusionsoft.
Result: The result has made a
significant impact and is a process
that I highly recommend. Most
important we answered tough
questions like Why does our firm
exist? What would our clients miss
if we disappeared tomorrow? These
are important questions and lead our team to describing our
corporate purpose and mission, as follows:
Company Purpose:
To provide services, resources and industry know-how to
empower our clients and to partner with them in building
great businesses.
Company Values:
1. We go above and beyond without expectations.
2. We do what we say what we will do.
3. We value time: Our own, our client’s and each others.
4. We always ask how we can help or do more.
5. We maintain a positive attitude in everything we do.
6. We consistently improve who we are and what we do.
Turns out that the strategic planning “process” is just as
important as the result. When you reflect on tough questions
like “why does your business exist” and “why anyone should
care about your business” well it forces you to reflect on core
issues and can have a transformative impact on your business
—continued from page 1BUSINESS SUCCESS: IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE SMALL STUFF
and the actions you take to ensure that your business really
matters to your customers. For us, it has allowed us to expand
our services and what we do for our clients with the goal
of constantly adding more value. Keep in mind that this is
always a work in progress, but the strategic planning and our
stated mission has made us much more focused.
(ii) Morning Huddle
Pulling from the Rockefeller Habits and advice from Scaling
Up, we have implemented a 10 minute team meeting
every morning at 10AM. The purpose of the meeting is
to communicate, discuss the days game plan and lay out
priorities. Up until a few months
ago I never did this and cant
imagine how we operated without
this daily 10 minute meeting.
Result: These brief meeting
have had a tremendous impact
on our team communication and
efficiency. Its not foolproof, but has helped us become even
more proactive.
(iii) Added Value - A direct result of our strategic planning
meeting, our corporate purpose and values, we asked
ourselves how can we deliver extra value for our clients. Sure
we strive to provide the very best legal representation - but I
am sure that many others also strive for that same goal. So, for
us we have focused our extra value on enhancing our client
services and responsiveness and providing unexpected
supplemental services. Using our internal design and
business development team we have been assisting some of
our client in their marketing efforts with videos, print media
and industry advice. For 2016 we have a lot more planned.
There are other steps that we have been working on and by
all accounts I have not figured out the “answer”. However,
as a business owner and entrepreneur like you, what I am
learning is that there never is just one answer - rather success
is a process and the small stuff matters. By the way in terms of
superheroes, we believe Ant Man proves this point.
3www.BusinessandFranchiseLaw.com
ENTREPRENEURS KICK ASS®
IT’S OFFICIAL: ENTREPRENEURS REALLY DO KICK ASS (POLITICIANS _ _ _ _)
Ronald Regan once said that “Entrepreneurs are the forgotten heroes of America.” While
Ronald Regan understood the value of entrepreneurship and what entrepreneurs mean
to our society many others do not (especially politicians who seem to control everything
yet have experience in nothing).
So when our team designed our law firm mug we decided to focus on our clients and we
adopted the “Entrepreneurs Kick Ass” slogan. The demand for the mug has been amazing
and we are pleased to say that the United States Patent and Trademark Office recently
granted registration of the Entrepreneurs Kick Ass trademark.
FRANCHISE CONVENTIONS
IT WAS GREAT MEETING YOU AT THE EMERGING FRANCHISOR CONFERENCE!
We were glad to participate at the IFA’s Emerging Franchisor Convention In Miami, FL. Thank you to everyone who stopped
by our booth and spoke to us about your franchising and business experiences. Above are photos of Charles Internicola’s
roundtable about “Managing Disclosure Risks and Keeping Franchisees from Running Wild” and our Entrepreneurs Kick Ass®
table.
We hope to see you at the IFA Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX on February 20-23, 2016.
For more information about the franchise conferences (including advice if you plan on exhibiting), feel free
to call us at (800) 976-4904 or email Melissa at: [email protected].
4
IN THIS ISSUE
1000 South Avenue | Suite 104Staten Island, NY 10314
1.800.976.4904www.BusinessandFranchiseLaw.com
BUSINESS BUILDINGBusiness Success: It’s Always About the Small Stuff PAGE 1
FRANCHISE CONFERENCES Photos from the IFA Emerging Franchisor Conference PAGE 3
ENTREPRENEURS KICK ASS® It’s Official: Entrepreneurs Really Do Kick Ass (Politicians _ _ _ _)PAGE 3
UPCOMING STORIES Franchise Alerts: Snapology and Uncle Louie GPAGE 4
Drive sales and collaborate with like-minded business owners intent on making 2016 their best year ever. We
are considering applicants and participants for our 2016 Business
Mastermind group. This group will be a select group of like-minded
entrepreneurs that meet quarterly in NYC and are focused on
improving their businesses and their lives.
To learn more email: [email protected] or call (800) 976-4904.
CONNECT WITH US!
MASTERMIND
UPCOMING SPOTLIGHTS
Snapology. Recently we had the opportunity to visit our client at Snapology at their
corporate headquarters in Pittsburg, PA. Snapology is a great emerging franchise system.
Laura and Lisa Coe (Snapology’s co-founders) have a great entrepreneurial story that we will
be sharing in the next few weeks.
Uncle Louie G is a brand and concept that started in Brooklyn, New York and under the guidance of
Dino Russo and Pete Scalici has grown throughout the country. They definitely have a great story and
will be discussing some of the steps that Dino has taken to promote his company including TV and media
appearances that he generated through persistence on his part.
ARE YOU LOOKING TO TAKE YOUR BUSINESS IN A NEW DIRECTION IN 2016?